Blog | ||
Leonardo DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man
Thanks to Josh Olinick for sending us this email… Just in case you guys don’t have this yet…(I keep realizing {and envying} the brilliance) Vitruvius, the architect, says in his work on architecture that the measurements of the human body are distributed by Nature as follows that is that 4 fingers make 1 palm, and 4 palms make 1 foot, 6 palms make 1 cubit; 4 cubits make a man’s height. And 4 cubits make one pace and 24 palms make a man; and these measures he used in his buildings. If you open your legs so much as to decrease your height 1/14 and spread and raise your arms till your middle fingers touch the level of the top of your head you must know that the centre of the outspread limbs will be in the navel and the space between the legs will be an equilateral triangle. The length of a man’s outspread arms is equal to his height. From the roots of the hair to the bottom of the chin is the tenth of a man’s height; from the bottom of the chin to the top of his head is one eighth of his height; from the top of the breast to the top of his head will be one sixth of a man. From the top of the breast to the roots of the hair will be the seventh part of the whole man. From the nipples to the top of the head will be the fourth part of a man. The greatest width of the shoulders contains in itself the fourth part of the man. From the elbow to the tip of the hand will be the fifth part of a man; and from the elbow to the angle of the armpit will be the eighth part of the man. The whole hand will be the tenth part of the man; the beginning of the genitals marks the middle of the man. The foot is the seventh part of the man. From the sole of the foot to below the knee will be the fourth part of the man. From below the knee to the beginning of the genitals will be the fourth part of the man. The distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose and from the roots of the hair to the eyebrows is, in each case the same, and like the ear, a third of the face.
TinnitusA while back we received a great question from Joyce Wasserman, PT, PRC on Tinnitus. Read her question and Ron Hruska’s response…
There appears to be three forms of tinnitus. The last is more of an osteopathic thought process approach. Nonetheless, I’d like to cover all three briefly in this response to a question received by a PRC therapist about the relationship between tinnitus and dental occlusion. The first most common form of tinnitus according to James B. Snow Jr., a physician at the University of Pennsylvania, and former director of the National Institute on Deafness and other communication disorders, arises from damage to the inner ear, or cochlea, caused by exposure to high volumes of sound. Dr. Snow also states that drugs such as aspirin, quinine and aminoglycoside antibiotics, cancer chemotherapeutics and other ototoxic agents, and infections and head injuries. He goes on to state that if the inner ear is damaged, input decreases from the cochlea to the auditory centers of the brainstem, such as the dorso cochlear nucleus. This input loss may lead to increased spontaneous activity in the nucleus neurons as a result of inhibition that has spontaneously been removed. The second most common form or theory of tinnitus is autonomic nervous system stimulation from increased neuromuscular tension. Retraining therapy, a process that can take a long time, often two years or more, can help reduce this tension from the autonomic nervous system. This process is called habituation of reaction. Tinnitus then becomes quieter for longer periods of time and eventually or hopefully will disappear or become a natural part of the background noise or “sound of silence”. This is sometimes referred to as habituation of perception. This won’t happen if or while the tinnitus is still classified by the person experiencing it as a threat, negative experience, an undiagnosed symptom, or while the individual is under a lot of emotional stress. Many tinnitus patients have hyperacousis or high degrees of sensitivity to external noise and therefore they seek and search for quiet environments to work in. In this respect, according to information from http://www.tinnitus.org, they are their own worst enemy. Supposedly, if strong beliefs about the threatening nature of tinnitus are maintained, the survival style or condition response mechanisms in the subconscious brain insure that it is continuously monitored and therefore the condition itself will not improve. Imaging studies confirm increased neural activity in the auditory cortices of those experiencing tinnitus. Their brains also show increased activity in the limbic structures associated with emotional processing. Other symptoms that sometimes appear alongside tinnitus, such as emotional distress, depression, dizziness, and insomnia, may have a common basis in some limbic structure such as a nucleus accumbens. In addition to the two most common forms of Tinnitus, that is damage to the inner ear and increased tension from the autonomic nervous system stimulation, I find that there is a very strong relationship between tinnitus and those who are experiencing temporal bone disorganization or temporalis overuse. Clenchers, grinders, and trismus oriented individuals often experience tinnitus associated with hyperactivity of musculature that is attached directly to the temporal bone which houses the inner ear. There does not appear to be a relationship between tinnitus and externally or internally rotated temporal bones at this time according to the literature, however, it does stand to reason that this third reason for tinnitus is strongly related to the position and orientation of a muscle called the tensor tympani muscle that inserts on the manubrium of the malleus bone and originates or attaches directly to the sphenoid bone and the temporal bone. It lies in our auditory tube and its main action is to tense the tympanic membrane along with the stapedius muscle of the ear. It also contains cerebellar input related to the ability to adapt to vision as well as hearing. Since this muscle makes the tympanic membrane taught if it is put in a position where it is lengthened it can also influence its own innervation by the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve. It can have a direct impact on the external surface of the tympanic membrane. The external surface of the tympanic membrane is innervated by the oriculo temporal branch of the mandibular nerve and the oricular branch of the vagus nerve. The internal surface of the membrane is supplied by the tympanic branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve. Temporal and sphenoid orientation, therefore, can have a both direct and indirect impact on the autonomic nervous system, trigeminal innervation, and vagal activity. Clinically, keeping the temporal innominates aligned, stable, and functioning in a reciprocal manner with respiration and mandibular activity is important to keep the tympanic membrane, tympanic cavity, and septum of the auditory muscular canal aligned. Through manual or non-manual techniques using PRI principles and philosophy, I have been able to change the frequency and intensity of this irritant. Many of these same patients also need to be evaluated by a dentist with a strong background in TMD and occlusion and it’s always helpful to work with a dentist who has a cranial-gnathic orthopedic mind. Being familiar with the different lesions of the cranium that can occur with malocclusion is always helpful in restoring proper cranial symmetry with a bite. In addition to this I’ve also had success in working with optometrists, specifically COVD trained optometrists, who presently understands the autonomic nervous systems influence on accommodation and tension across the cranium as a result of vestibular constraint secondary to visual and spatial lack of integration. Hopefully, this overview will help anyone working with a patient experiencing tinnitus. Obviously, we’re excited that the physical and physiological implications associated with tinnitus, can be corrected or reduced using methodology that diminishes the asymmetrical issues at the temporal region as well as the hypersensitivity associated with torque placed on the temporal bone itself.
In case you missed it…We recently had a course attendee ask some great questions following the Myokinematic Restoration course. Please check out Recent Emails to see the questions and answers!
Frequently asked questionWe often have people ask us about the use of the words PRI and Postural Restoration Institute. Most recently we received this email and decided to take the opportunity to educate everyone on this issue. “I have been hearing the phrase ‘doing PRI with my patients’ being used by some therapists for a while now. I am not sure this is correct. To me it sounds like the therapist is saying ‘doing Postural Restoration Institute with my patients’. I could understand ‘using PRI methods’, or ‘PRI techniques’, but the active verb of ‘doing PRI’ doesn’t seem like the proper use of the PRI initialism. I highly respect this approach but I also understand how language sometime evolves incorrectly (for example: ATM machines, PIN numbers, ITB band).” “I have been doing PRI on my patients for years and the PRI has helped me teach PRI!” This statement was said correctly. PRI is a tradename, a brand, a label, etc. that reflects position, process or approach. PRI is also an acronym. The Postural Restoration Institute is the name of an Institute. Our attorneys are well versed in these issues. You use Kleenex to blow your nose. It is a branded soft tissue. Its acronym stands for nothing, that I am aware of. PRI is a brand name, a “Kleenex” of an approach to restore posture or perform postural rehabilitation. It’s acronym in this form, grammatically, is meaningless. Instead of calling this method or approach a different name, we decided to use the acronym of the Institute to “brand” it. “Postural Restoration” does not brand an approach. “Pilates” is a form of postural restoration, as is “Feldenkrais”. There are hundreds of different approaches that could be used to restore posture. Hope this helps you understand the legal world and world of PRI as an acronym and as a brand.
Anterior Rotation of the Right Innominate vs. Left…
We received this great question last week from a clinician who has attended a PRI course. He brought up an interesting perspective… During a conversation with a colleague a confusing issue came up. PRI stuff is interesting and one of the things that is most interesting to me is that they pretty much say “everyone has this presentation” (left anterior, tension in right hamstring, anterior tilt, etc…). If you have ever read Wolf Schamberger’s “Malalignment Syndrome”, he actually talks about the most common presentation being people anteriorly rotated on the right, posterior on the left - which is opposite to PRI’s thought process. Who is right? I think it is okay to notice trends (I have actually seen more people fall in the presentation from the Malalignment Syndrome - anterior rotation on right), but to group everyone into the same presentation is a bit strange. It’s all a matter of perspective, which is what PRI challenges the most. Humans lateralize their center of gravity to the right more than to the left because of many objective reasons. If one establishes a neuromuscular pattern of stable, secure foundation through the right lower extremity, utilizing the right vastus lateralis, right hamstring, right adductors and right gluteus medius, you will find an anteriorly positioned or oriented innominate on the right. Subsequently, the left ASIS may “feel” more anteriorly rotated on the left and possibly the evaluator may “find” the right innominate more posteriorly rotated on the right. Inter-rater reliability in these situations, without further integrated objective testing is poor at best. In this case, in standing, the evaluator would find more lumbar-thoracic lordosis on the left.
I am fairly certain, this compensatory activity associated with the human characteristic pattern of bilateral innominate anterior rotation (lumbar-thoracic lordosis) is what the “Wolf Schamberger’s Malalignment Syndrome” is all about.
PRI Illustrations by Elizabeth Cunningham
Over the past 10 weeks we have had the privilege to work with an incredible illustrator, Elizabeth Cunningham. In her short time here, she has finished several amazing illustrations that were inspired by the science behind the Postural Restoration Institute. She has also developed images for the coloring sections of our Myokinematic Restoration and Cervical-Cranio-Mandibular Restoration courses. We are sad to announce that this will be her last day here at PRI but we are happy to know our relationship will continue while she pursues a career in Boston.
Haven’t we all wondered this?In a conversation between Ron Hruska and his daughter living in New York City, Ron describes why we associate smells with memories:
Visual Midline Shift TestThe Visual Midline Shift Test is located in our Advanced Integration course manual. If you have recently been to an Advanced Integration course, you are familiar with this handout. Eric Pinkall, MPT, PRC recently caught a mistake located on the handout. Click HERE to print off the updated version of the Visual Midline Shift Test. You can see the corrections highlighted in yellow!
Who Should I Refer To?We are often asked “When should I refer my patient to a neuro-optometrist vs. an optometrist”? This issue is discussed in the Vision-Vestibular Integration Course. We have created a handout to help you determine when to refer to both! Click HERE to get a copy!
Class III and Class I BiteWe received a great email regarding treatment of an anterior class I and posterior class III bite. To read about it click here or go to Recent Emails!
Left AIC Pelvis
Look at all the asymmetry going on in this x-ray! Notice the size difference in the obturator foramens, the asymmetry in the pelvic floor opening and the difference between the left and right head of the femurs. This is a classic example of a Left AIC pelvis!
Influence of Thoracic Airflow and Rib Rotation on Transverse Spine Position
James Anderson, MPT, PRC put together a diagram that shows the influence that respiration has on rib position and spinal orientation. This handout can now be found in our Postural Respiration course when we discuss Superior T4 syndrome. To look at this handout, click here!
Right TMCC Facial Observations
Take a look at the most recent picture we have taken of a classic Right TMCC pattern! Do you see what we see?
If you are interested to learn more about this, register for a Cervical Cranio Mandibular Restoration course here!
Back in TimeFor those of you familiar with PRI, we thought you would find this intriguing. This diagram was presented in the first course given by Ron Hruska. The course was given in September of 1995 and was called “Postural Reconstruction - An Integrated Approach to Treatment of Upper Half Musculoskeletal and Respiratory Dysfunction”. This is literally, the first sketch of the Left AIC, Right BC and PEC chain!
Accelerated LocomotionIn the Left AIC patterned individual, harnessing the crossed extensor reflexes on the right and optimizing the crossed extensor reflexes on the left is encouraged. During flexion, activation occurs at the ankle (dorsiflexion), then continues up to the knee joint and the hip. This is usually often seen on the left and why some coaches ask athletes to “cock the toe” or “pull toes up”. The ankle joint is the foundation of flexion. Activation for extension starts at the hip and moves down to the knee and ankle, creating the leg drive commonly referred to as triple extension. This is often seen on the right. Which specific toe would you remove to create a functional obligatory Left AIC pattern? Click here for the answer…
Page 1 of 2 pages 1 2 > |
||
